Tehama County, California severe weather history spans 139 recorded events between 1961 and 2026. The dominant hazard is flood, accounting for 42.4% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,745 nationally and #31 in California.
139
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
23
Direct injuries
$571.1M
Property damage
The record
What the Tehama County, California severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Tehama County, California severe weather history averages 2.1 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2020s, with 52 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 11 events fall before 1990 and 128 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is wildfire, with $547.5M in reported property damage. In total, 10 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Tehama County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flood | 59 | 0 | $14.7M | 0 | 2014–2026 |
| Hail | 26 | 0 | $38K | 3 | 1961–2025 |
| Tornado | 13 | 0 | $2.8M | F2 | 1978–2026 |
| Heavy Rain | 11 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1998–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 8 | 0 | $6.0M | 0 | 2008–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 8 | 0 | $13K | 83 | 1980–2023 |
| Funnel Cloud | 6 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1997–2022 |
| Wildfire | 6 | 0 | $547.5M | 0 | 1997–2000 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | $5K | 0 | 2020–2020 |
| Debris Flow | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2024–2024 |
Decade by decade
Tehama County, California severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
12 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 12 touched down inside it and 0 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986-09-24 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1980-05-09 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1978-03-05 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-01-03 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2021-01-04 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2021-01-04 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 2.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 2021-04-25 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2013-04-04 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2013-02-19 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1987-03-14 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Tehama County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 1999 | Wildfire | MILL CREEK | 0 | 22 | $0 |
| Sep 24, 1986 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $2.5M |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Tehama County completed a preliminary estimate of damage from flooding. There was substantial flooding, with a rough estimate of $14 million in damages, mainly from 3 bridges, 1 completely destroyed by under cutting, two others under cut and sink holes, but still standing. Kirkwood Bridge $6,110,000.00 , Rawson Bridge $4,000,000.00. Remainder in trees, bridge clearing, road damage, labor $4,000,000.00||The city of Red Bluff estimated $60,000.00 bridge, trees, sandbags, labor (still climbing as they find more). The city of Corning estimated $100,000.00 road damage, creek and bridge clearing and labor. The city of Tehama estimated $27,000.00 road damage to East Gyle, tree clean up and debris clean up from roads.
There was flooding and impacts along Highway 99 from numerous creeks overtopping their banks in addition to earthen berm or earthen levee failures. There were issues on the following creeks: | Salt Creek (Overtopped at Highway 99 and Highway 36 location)| Antelope Creek (Private earthen berm failure at Rancho Ave))| Craig Creek (Overtopped near Craig Road and Rancho Ave)| Dye Creek (Over topped and earthen berm failure between Shasta blvd and 62nd Ave)|Highway 99 was closed from highway 36 to Aramayo Way for many hours (Wednesday evening through early Thursday morning) until the water receded and things could be cleaned up. There were 213 homes impacted from the flooding, with significant damage from water and mud. Many homes had several feet of water. Fields and orchards were also flooded.|Damage to homes, bridges, fencing, crops, and beehives totaled $2.5 million. Repairs and remediation to the berms totaled $4.25 million.
Large amounts of hail fell and accumulated, 4 to 5 inches deep on I5 and adjacent local roads. The hail was up to an inch in diameter. The hail brought very slippery conditions, causing 3 vehicles to slide into the ditch. These vehicles needed to be towed. The hail also caused long traffic delays. Snow plows were required to plow the hail off of I5.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Moderate
FEMA NRI risk rating
65,167
Population (ACS)
$340K
Median home value
25
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 25, 2024 | Fire | PARK FIRE | FM |
| Jan 14, 2023 | Flood | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR |
| Jan 9, 2023 | Flood | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES | EM |
| Aug 24, 2021 | Fire | WILDFIRES | DR |
| Mar 22, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Tehama County, California?
139 events are on record between 1961 and 2026, causing 0 direct deaths and $571.1M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Tehama County?
Flood, with 59 recorded events — 42.4% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Tehama County?
12 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 12 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Tehama County?
25 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Tehama County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Tehama County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Tehama County as relatively moderate risk, placing it in the 89 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Tehama County, California severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Sutter County 33
- Trinity County 72
- Stanislaus County 80
- Tulare County 474
- Sonoma County 419
- Tuolumne County 66
Cite this page
“Tehama County, California.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/california/tehama-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.